Dr. Karen Lommel receives the Healthcare Transformation Award.
Prisma Health presents the Healthcare Transformation Award.
In high school, Dr. Karen Lommel knew she wanted to become a physician. Her extensive training has given her expertise across multiple specialties, including pediatrics, adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and emergency medicine.
With more than a decade at Prisma Health, Lommel currently serves as the chief medical officer for behavioral health and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina. She has also trained future physicians since 2016 as a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville.
For her leadership, expertise and commitment to service that advances a more connected, patient-centered approach to behavioral health in the community, Lommel is this year’s recipient of the Healthcare Transformation Award, sponsored by Prisma.
“It’s truly an honor to be recognized for this important and life-changing work,” she says, and quickly points out that this recognition “spotlights the importance of people doing the hard work behind the scenes to address the significant deficit of behavioral health resources.”
Transforming healthcare in the Upstate
Prisma’s new behavioral health hospital will open in Easley in 2027 and will significantly expand access to behavioral care for children, teens and adults in the Upstate region of South Carolina. “We will be able to serve more children in the Upstate than we ever have before,” Dr. Lommel says.
The new hospital quadruples Prisma’s bed capacity for children and adolescents, while offering more specialized programming for patients in need of acute psychiatric care.
“We will also expand our role as the hub for training psychiatrists, medical students, nurses, physician assistants, and psychiatric nurse practitioners,” Lommel says, noting that expanding this workforce is “desperately needed.”
The new facility will include The Sargent-Wilson Wellness Center, a dedicated space for recreational activities for patients, educational sessions for families, and additional resources for community partners. Lommel’s excitement for this restorative environment is evident. “This will truly be a benefit to our community on so many levels,” she says.
Seeing the impact of her efforts on patients, families, and communities is incredibly meaningful to Lommel. While many experiences have shaped her as a clinician and leader, “the opportunity to expand behavioral health services through Prisma Health, the growth of this hospital, and our partnerships with the state to improve access to care has been the true highlight of my career.”
